Introducing: eHarmony's Most Inspirational Couple of 2008!

The results are in! Read all about the amazing love story of Holly and Brett, eHarmony's Most Inspirational Couple of 2008!

Their vows to support each other through sickness and health will carry extra significance for Oakland, Iowa couple Holly Hinkhouse and Brett Larson when they marry later this year. The couple, recently voted the Most Inspirational eHarmony Couple of 2008, fell in love under circumstances most new relationships could not endure.

Holly and Brett were matched by eHarmony just after Christmas in 2007. Attracted by Brett’s great smile and the thought and detail he put into his profile, Holly decided to take a chance and initiate communication. She waited for Brett’s reply, unaware that he was traveling in Egypt after the holidays and would not see her message for nearly a month.

Upon his return, Holly and Brett began communicating with each other and had scheduled their first date for early February 2008. Then, she recalled, “it hit.” Brett learned he was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of bone cancer that affects only about two out of every 1 million people.

Even though they had only known each other a short time, the experience of Brett’s diagnosis led to a friendship that brought the two closer together. They emailed every day, talked on the phone occasionally and met for lunch months later after Brett had endured six rounds of chemotherapy treatment. Months later, and after four more rounds of chemotherapy, Brett took a chance and asked Holly if she would ever consider being his girlfriend.

“He still had four more rounds of chemotherapy to complete but he was afraid I would move on and find someone else,” Holly recalled. “So, he took a chance and asked me on a date. We had been through so much together and I had never turned my heart away from him, so I was incredibly happy,” she said.

Brett proposed to Holly on October 9, 2008, 22 days before he finished his 14th and final round of chemotherapy and was declared cancer-free.

Holly and Brett were voted the winners of eHarmony’s Most Inspirational eHarmony Couple of 2008 contest after receiving thousands of votes from members of the eHarmony Advice community. They will be awarded a romantic 4 day/3 night Luxury Included® Vacation to any Sandals Resort.

Read on for the inspirational story, in their own words, here!